Harpie Lady
by Vannessa Hillstead
Summary: Keith expects to drown his sorrows, not remember them one by one. [KeithxMai]


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Bandit" Keith Howard was once considered one of the best--if not the best--duelist in America. It had been a reputation that he had worked hard to get, and he had taken it rather hard when Pegasus had defeated him. The fame that he had managed to receive--all the attention that he had had, came crashing down around him. People barely knew who he was anymore, and as he sat infront of the bartender in a dingy, and dimly lit pub, he couldn't help but think that his reputation with someone else had been ruined by his defeat at the hands of Pegasus. 

He finished the rest of the beer that he had been drinking for the past ten minutes, before setting it down on the counter.

"Another."

The bartender didn't seem to be too surprised--or put off--by the fact that Keith was demanding beer after beer. He simply handed his customer another bottle, before going back to wiping off the counter.

He remembered--not too well--the day that they had met. She had been working on a cruise ship--as a blackjack dealer of all things--when he had challenged her to a duel.

_"I heard that you like challenges." He had said, looking very amused by the idea. She seemed to enjoy the idea as much as he did. Her lips formed a smirk._

_"I do."_

_"What would you say to one right now?" He had asked, "in Duel Monsters."_

_She had seemed enthused by the idea. He knew that she was something of a champion there--as she hadn't lost yet. What was he to say to such a challenge. After all, he was one of the best--no, the best--duelist in america._

_"How about we sweeten the deal?"_

_A smirk was still ever present on her face. "Alright."_

_"You have to kiss me if you lose."_

_She did not seem to be taken aback by this proposal, and was still smiling._

_"_If_ I lose."_

_They dueled each other--and to his surprise--she managed to win. Well, it wasn't a big surprise. He had been so distracted during the duel it wasn't even funny. _

He sighed, taking a look at the half empty beer bottle. It wasn't as though he could drown his sorrows in alcohol, but he was definitely trying to. For some reason, all the memories that he thought he had pushed to the back of his mind, were coming back all at once.

Despite the fact that she had won the duel, they did end up kissing--well, they ended up doing more than _just _kissing each other. He remembered that they had spent the night together in his room on the ship.

It seemed as though the two of them had hit the relationship off well. She had come to see him a week or so later, when he was supposed to duel Pegasus.

His fingers tightened around the bottle. He wasn't supposed to have lost. It was supposed to have been a victory, one that would make him incredibly famous, not the laughing stock of the entire dueling community.

He recalled that she had been there that day, sitting in the very first row of the stadium.

_"These stupid cards," he had said. "I'll be damned if I have anything to do with them again!" He had thrown his deck on the ground, intending to abandon it._

_"And I never want to see _his_ face ever again!" he continued. _

_He contemplated this for a few seconds. Perhaps he did want to see it again. He wanted revenge. And he was going to get it if it was the last thing he did..._

_"You're overreacting."_

_He stared at her for what seemed like a full minute. He was at a loss for words. This was possibly the most un-Mai Kujaku like thing that he had ever heard her say._

_"It's not worth it to beat yourself up over this one defeat."_

_He was still at a loss for words. He stamped on his deck, wishing that he could throw it off the nearest bridge._

_"You don't understand!" he had yelled at her._

_She seemed to be taken aback by this statement, and rushed off shortly after that, without so much as a good bye._

The beer bottle nearly shattered in his hand. That day was always painful to recall. The bartender seemed to have noticed this, and looked as though he regretted giving Keith another bottle of beer.

But, Keith looked as though he wasn't on Earth at the moment. The expression on his face seemed to show that he was very deep in thought, perhaps thinking of a time years before he had ever begun to frequent the bar.

The bartender sighed, and decided that it would be best not to get interfered.

It had been after his crushing defeat at the hands of Pegasus that he had joined the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Keith had figured that it would be the easiest way to seek revenge on the man that had cost him his title, and most of all, his girlfriend. Even though he wanted to defeat Pegasus, he also thought that perhaps, he might be able to win Mai back.

Keith stared at his feet for a few seconds, watching a rat scurry across the floor, scratching the all ready ruined floorboards.

He sighed, before picking up the bottle and examining the contents. Why was this making him remember the things that he had pushed to the back of his mind? Why was he thinking about Mai when he didn't want to see her ever again?

He set the bottle back down on the counter, and sighed again.

_"What are you doing?"_

_He had just closed the door to Jounouchi's room, trying to conceal what he had taken._

_"Nothing."_

_"Why were you in Jounouchi's room?" she asked indignantly._

_"Why do you care?" he had questioned, pushing past her to go back to his own room in the castle._

His fingers clenched around the bottle. It wasn't fair that she had caught him, and given her own card to Jounouchi. He had had a feeling that she would. He had suspected that she was hopelessly smitten with the boy. Maybe she thought that Jounouchi would right all the wrongs that he had ever commited.

Maybe it was just the alcohol, but Keith couldn't think of anything that he had ever done that would make her hate him so. He fumbled with the inside pocket of his vest, unclasped it, and took out the card that was inside it.

The card was Mai's trademark, the Harpie Lady; and as he held the card in his hands, he felt as though he was holding Mai again. A smile flickered across his face momentarily, before he ripped the card in two.

He got off the barstool, teetering uncontrolably as he stood up. He put a couple of wrinkled up bills on the counter, before staggering out of the bar.

The night was exceptionally cold. He gazed up at the pitch-black, star-strewn sky for a few moments, thinking that it must be past midnight. He thought he saw a few pinkish hues after staring a little while longer.

Shaking his head, he continued to walk down the road.

The buildings around the pub seemed to glare at him as he passed, and as he continued to walk, some part of him could tell that people were staring at him. The other part of him was too drunk to care.

Soon, he reached his destination. It was a small bridge that went over a river. There may, or may not have been cars zooming across the bridge, as Keith was again, rather drunk to car about the possibility of being hit by a truck.

He took the Harpie Lady card and tossed it over the bridge, before whispering:

"...And don't come back," to the darkness.


End file.
